Enter the Passion Pit...we promise it's nothing dirty

Passion Pit is coming to Warehouse Live on Thursday and as an added treat they’re bringing along catchy Canadian indie rockers Tokyo Police Club who just released a new album on the 8th of June. But back to Passion Pit; before you groan and say to yourself “oh, not that band on MTV and the phone commercials” let me assure you that if you haven’t listened to Passion Pit extensively before they got noticed and are extremely cynical, these guys are excellent song-writers and are certainly worth the fuss. I know we all have to put up with the scenie, poser kids who show up to Radiohead concerts practically shouting things like “play Creep! That’s all I came for! Attention world: I AM SHALLOW!” but those of us who really listen to all of PP’s work know that there’s a lot more there than MTV or scenesters do not notice. Take for example songs like “Eyes as Candles” which deal with complex matters like faith or “Little Secrets” in which vocalist Michael Angelakos seems to talk about drug abuse. I’d recommend that anyone showing an interest in Passion Pit who’s only heard Manners also listen to the band’s debut EP Chunk of Change, which was a gift from Michael Angelakos to his then girlfriend. My point is that Passion Pit is anything but a flash-in-the-pan phenomenon and deserves the attention of serious music-listeners. Don’t miss your opportunity to see a two great bands on Thursday. There might still be tickets and if there are there ain’t a lot. Thank Pegstar for booking this awesome show!

'Tis the Season to look at the Pitchfork Top Hundred

Pitchfork E-Zine is always a great place to look for the absolute best in current music. Unlike many "serious" music websites that only focus on the most exclusive, obscure, and esoteric artists, songs, and albums Pitchfork seeks out the best music regardless of whether it's mainstream or not. I'd heard from a few people that the website was pretentious yet I when I viewed the yearly Pitchfork Top 100 I noticed artists like Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Lil' Wayne. I'm not hating on those artists or anything but they're definitely what would be considered pop in their genres. They get played on the radio frequently and aren't going to attract the attention of thick-framed-glasses-wearing-vinyl-collecting-hipsters (like myself haha) but they've proven that they can write catchy, complex, and lasting songs and sometimes deserve just as much attention as more obscure cult bands like Joy Division or the LCD Soundsystem.

Every New Year, Pitchfork releases a list of the top 100 songs of the past year as selected by staff and it spans all genres and levels of popularity. There's a noticeable lack of bias and favoritism in their top 100 lists (they've got other lists than the regular yearly as well) unlike the lists you find in bullshit, poser, hack, music publication like Rolling Stone. I can't even tell you all how many new bands and artists I've discovered or how many popular artists I know are good because of their annual list.

I'm not going to review the whole list for you but some of my favorite songs on the list are:
-Blood Bank by Bon Iver
-Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
-Paparazzi by Lady Gaga
-Watching the Planets by the Flaming Lips
-Daniel by Bats for Lashes
-Glass by Bats for Lashes
-11th Dimension by Julian Casablancas
-Moth's Wings by Passion Pit
-My Girls by Animal Collective
-1901 by Phoenix
-Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear
-Lust for Life by Girls

I can always depend on Pitchfork to direct me to all the coolest songs I might have overlooked during the past year.

Shit, MTV strikes a favorite Band of mine once again

About two weeks ago my fiancee called me while I was in my dorm and delivered some really disturbing news. Apparently, Passion Pit is being played on MTV! I was so pissed when I found out. I've been listening to Passion Pit for more almost a year now and I was thrilled when I saw them being promoted on iTunes as single of the week a while back. I want people to know how great Passion Pit is but I'm not so enthusiastic about their appeal that I want the uncultured philistines at places like Rolling Stone or MTV to manhandle their delicate, new image. Thousands of dumb scene kids are going to make Passion Pit their favorite band by knowing only the song "Sleepyhead" which will be their new favorite jam next "Sugar we're going down".